It's not quite up to Ice Bowl standards, but if the forecast holds up the 49ers-Packers playoff game in Green Bay is going down as one of the coldest ever.

Patrick Powell, the chief meteorologist for WLUK in Green Bay said kickoff temperature is forecast for 2 degrees Sunday, with a wind-chill factor of minus-20, when the Packers host the 49ers in an NFC Playoffs wild-card game at Lambeau Field.

"Honestly, it's not that unusual for us," Powell said Thursday by phone. "Today, our high was 10. So, the kickoff temperature at 3 o'clock in the afternoon of 2 is really not that out of whack."

In fact, Powell said, the 49ers and Packers actually are catching a bit of a break with weather that, um, warm. The forecast for Sunday night calls for minus-20, with a wind-chill of minus-45.

Now, that would rival the Ice Bowl, the coldest NFL game ever played. That occurred Dec. 31, 1967, when the Packers beat the Dallas Cowboys with a third-and-goal sneak by quarterback Bart Starr in a game immortalized by NFL Films.

As it stands, Sunday's 49ers-Packers game would tie for the 10th-coldest game in NFL history — four of the current top 10 were played in Green Bay -- based on kickoff temperature, Powell said.

Powell said Packers fans are accustomed to games this cold. Heck, six years ago the Packers hosted the New York Giants in the NFC Championship Game, when kickoff temperature registered minus-4 and qualified as the fifth-coldest NFL game.

Advertisement

The Packers practiced outside this week in preparation for Sunday. Yet, Powell doesn't think the weather gives the Packers a marked edge.

"Probably the best advantage will be early in the game because they've been practicing in it this week and they played in Chicago when it was cold last week," Powell said.